The Home of Health Psychology

Conduct research focusing on health, illness and the delivery of healthcare

Translate their research and teaching into best healthcare practice

Proactively seek to link researchers and practitioners from a variety of fields in the Midlands and North West

Foster collaborations with national and international researchers

As such we are well-placed to contribute to local, regional, national and international health and wellbeing.

Research: Our work in Health Psychology includes:

The Impact and Experience of Long Term Conditions (including pain and pain management, diabetes, amblyopia, mental health-related conditions). We have close links with local and national hospitals and seek to understand how patients experience and self-manage their conditions and how health professionals can best support this process.

Health-Related Motivation. We have a group of researchers who explore what might impact on our health-related motivation. This body of work increases our understanding of what influences our likelihood of engaging in health protective as well as risky health behaviours (examples of health issues include obesity and healthy eating, substance use, sexual health, older people ageing well).

Behaviour Change. Some of the more innovative work taking place applies understanding from the conspiracy theory field or draws on social norms theory (e.g. alcohol use) to better understand the influences on behaviour change.

Teaching: Our teaching concerns the training of health psychologists. We were the first UK university to run accredited courses in health psychology, the MSc was accredited in 1997 and the Professional Doctorate in 2002. As such, we like to call ourselves the Home of Health Psychology (#HealthPsychStaffs).

Consultancy:We are also involved in consultancy and enterprise work responding to local and national needs. We can conduct needs assessments, service evaluations, systematic reviews and deliver bespoke training packages.